Strategic Business Development is crucial to the long-term prospects of most venture-backed companies. The alliances you form, the agreements you sign and the path you take all work to attract - or repel - your eventual acquirer - and the price!
This blog aims to discuss lessons learned during >25 years in business development for the software industry.

Monday, February 15, 2010

I will be moderating what promises to be a very interesting panel at the upcoming Americas Growth Capital Conference, to be held March 1 at the Westin San Francisco. You can read details about the Conference here. The panelists are from a cross-section of large and small companies, both public and private:

Tom Reilly, President and CEO, ArcSight (ARST)

Charles Sansbury, CFO, Attachmate

George Kurtz, Worldwide CTO and EVP, McAfee (MFE)

Marc Boroditsky, President and CEO, Passlogix

Mark McClain, CEO and Founder, SailPoint Technologies

I plan to report on what I learn during the panel, but wanted to give you a preview of what I hope will be discussed. Some of the questions on the table include:

What strategies have worked in maximizing the outcome for entrepreneurial companies?

Is there real advantage if companies approach alliances with a view to an exit?

What lessons have been learned by entrepreneurs when things go wrong?

What is the role of partner programs at companies that grow through acquisition?

With a number of new “roll-ups”, must corporate funding & alliance strategy change?

What alliance strategies can small companies use to maximize their chances of success?

How do acquisitive firms form their list of possible targets?

Is there an advantage in having a prior relationship with a large vendor?

With both Private Equity and Public companies represented, I hope the audience will be able to gain some insights into the differing acquisition metrics, and how that might affect Corporate financing in the future.

The panelists are excited about participating, and I look forward to moderating the panel in two weeks.